ICC confirms entry of 8 teams for 2027 ODI World Cup, West Indies forced to play qualifier again

ICC ODI World Cup 2027 Qualified Teams List: The ICC has confirmed the eight teams that have so far qualified for the 2027 Men’s ODI World Cup. Apart from hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe, India, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and England have secured their places in the tournament based on the ICC ODI rankings.

14 teams will participate

The 2027 ODI World Cup will be played in October–November 2027, jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. This time a total of 14 teams will participate, while the remaining six places will be decided through ranking and qualifier tournaments till the cut-off date of 30 September 2026.

This time Namibia will host ODI World Cup matches for the first time. Of the total 54 matches of the tournament, 44 matches will be played in South Africa, while five matches each will be played in Zimbabwe and Namibia. The major host cities in South Africa will be Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, Gqeberaha, Bloemfontein, East London and Paarl.

West Indies’ problems increased

The situation of two-time world champion West Indies has once again become difficult. The team is currently ranked 10th in the ICC ODI rankings and it is almost certain that it will have to play the qualifiers to make it to the main tournament. West Indies dropped out of the top-8 after the recent ODI series defeat against New Zealand.

This could be the second consecutive time that the Caribbean team has to take the path of qualifiers. Even before the 2023 ODI World Cup, West Indies could not make it to the main tournament after losing to Netherlands, Scotland and Sri Lanka in the qualifiers.

Which team will qualify?

Afghanistan and Bangladesh are currently ranked eighth and ninth. If Afghanistan maintains or improves its ranking, it will qualify directly for the World Cup. On the other hand, Bangladesh will have to improve its ranking to make it to the top-8, otherwise it will also have to face the qualifiers.

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New format will come in 2027

The format of the 2027 World Cup will also be changed. The three lowest ranked qualifying teams will play the Super Series first. After this, the world champion will be decided through group stage, Super-7, semi-finals and final. This new and tough format has been prepared by the ICC with the aim of increasing the total number of teams in the tournament to 14 and having as many knockout matches as possible.